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.L. T. CONANT. Cloth Guide and Binder Gage for SewingMahines.

Patented July 31,1866,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

T. GONANT, OF'NEW LISBON, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN CLOTH-GUIDE AND BINDER-GAGE FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,7 [4, dated July 31,1866; antedated July 25, 1866.

To allwhom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, L, T. OONANT, of New Lisbon, county of Ooluinbiana,and State of Ohio, hzwe invented and produced a new and useful machinefor the purpose of doing away with the necessity of basting for thesewingmachine; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full andclear description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference in the same, which form partof this specification.

Figure 1 is a perspective drawing, exhibiting the various parts of themachine in combination and ready to be attached to the sewing-machinefor use. The other figures represent the parts detached, and, whenunited, form my binding-guide.

A represents the body of the plate, which is corrugated, and is, as wellas the other parts, made of metallic plates. The corrugations struck upfrom beneath give strength and rigidness to the plate, and allow the useof thinner and lighter material than could other wise be used, thuscheapening the expense of manufacturing.

B represents the fastening-slot, by means of which and a thumb-screwfitting into it the machine is fastened to the sewing-machine andadjusted to any required position. v

U 0 represent the gaging-lips, bent up at right angles to the body ofthe plate and provided with slots D E, for the parts M J to workthrough. The gaging-lips serve the purpose of keeping the edges of thecloth parallel while passing to the needle. Slot D allows a freeperpendicular movement of the arms M M, whereby they are enabled toaccommodate themselves to the varying thickness of the cloth while theedges of the lips keep the arms from turning sidewise. SlotE allows afree movement to the binding device, in order thatgfgoods. of differentthicknesses may be bound. The edges of the gaging-lips assistinjretaining the lips of the ,binder in their proper place.

F represents the upright post, which holds one end of the armszor platesM M steadily in their place, yet allowing a free perpendicular motion ofthe arms of the baster throughout their entire extent, thus allowing aneven pressure or friction upon the cloth, no matter what is itsthickness, from the gaging-lips to the points of the arms.

G is a screw secured to the base plate,

which, passing through slots in the binder J and the spring N, isprovided with two nuts, I and H. The former nut adjusts the position ofthe binding-lips and the latter regulates the amount of pressure of thespring N on the arms M M.

J represents the adjustable spring clam pin gbinder, which consists of apiece of spring metal slotted and doubled together in the middle andprovided with short lips or books on each end, the hooks or lips restingagainst and opposite each other, in which the binding to be used isinserted in the usual manner.

K represents a small separating-block, which is fitted on theadjusting-screw, between the arms of the binder, near the bend, in orderthat they may at all times be at the same distance apart, and at thesame time form a solid surface, against which the nut 1 may work.

I represents the fastening-nut, by which the binder is secured in itsproper place, that place depending upon the width of the bindingmaterial used.

L represents the slot of the binder, which allows a free horizontaladjustment of the binder, by which adjustment said binder is. made toaccommodate itself to different widths of binding.

M M represent the arms, which hold smoothly and guide the cloth againstthe guide-lips. These arms are narrow and rigid, and are connected with,yet independent of, the baseplate, and held in position by means of thelips or sides of-the slotD and the upright post F. i At the gaging-lips,as they pass through the slot D, they are bent at an angle of aboutforty-five degrees from the line of the gaging-lips in the directionfrom which the cloth is coming.

The ends of the arms are slightly bent up,

as shown in Fig. 1, to facilitate the more easy.

introduction of a piece of cloth both under and between them.

The angle at which these arms are placed with regard to the line ofseam, together with the gentle friction produced by theregulatingspring, automatically incline and direct the edges of thecloth against the gaging-lips, thus smoothing and guiding the materialin a straight line to the binder and the needle.

N represents a spring, one end of which is fastened to the base-plate,while the other end rests upon the upper surface of the upper inclinedarm M, about midway between the gaging-lips and the point of the arm.This spring is made to bear'with more or less force on the inclinedarms, owing to the thickness of the material being bound, by moving thenut H up or down on the screw G, which resting against said lips, one ofsaid pieces being between the face of the sewing-machine and the lowerarm of the baster, and

the other piece being between the two arms of the baster. Now, as thefeeding-power of the sewing-machine draws the material through thebaster, the friction produced on the material by the arms inclined in adirection 0ppo site the movement of the material will automaticallyincline and direct each of the pieces of cloth separately andindependently, and without lying in contact with each other, against thegaging-lips, by which the edges of said pieces of cloth are keptparallel to each other as they approach the needle for stitching. Theregulating-spring allows a free perpendicular motion, or rising andfalling, of the two arms, thus allowing any inequalities in thethickness of the material (such as seams) to pass through withoutdisturbing in the least the working of the machine. If the friction ofthe arms upon the cloth be too great or too little, that can beregulated by loosening or tightening the adjusting-nut.

It will thus be seen that the time and trouble of basting by handpreparatory to using the sewing-machine (which time and trouble arefrequently as great as the sewing itself are entirely saved.

When thebinder is to be used, loosen the fastening-nut of the binder andslide the hinding-lips forward till they protrude about half the widthof the binding material. Then insert the binding into the lips of thebinder so that one edge of said binding shall rest in each lip or hook,placing the edge of the cloth to be bound between the lips of thebinder, it being first placed between the arms M M, and

, resting against the gaging-lips. Now, as the feedin g-power of thesewin g-machine draws the cloth and the binding toward the needle, andas the guide-arms M incline and direct the edge of the cloth against thegaging-lips and between the binding-lips, said binding-lipsautomatically lay the binding material about the edge of the cloth to bebound as perfectly as can be done by the hand and as rapidly as thesewing-machine can be worked.

Having thus described the structure and explained the use of the variousparts of the automatic cloth-guide and binding-gage separately and incombination, and having also explained the manner of using the machinein combination with the sewing-machine, and some of the advantages andbenefits resulting from such use, I proceed to remark, lastly, that I donot claim to have invented corrugated metallic base-plates, nor slots,nor upright posts, nor adjusting-screws, nor fastening or adjustingnuts, nor flat pieces of metal, here used, inclining the goods, normetallic springs, which are here used to form the binding-lips andregulatin gsprin g, merely as such, and disconnectedly used; nor do Iclaim the use of any of the parts just named, except for the purposesherein set forth and as forming necessary and dependent parts of themachine in combination.

What I do claim as new, and of my own invention, and which I seek tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

1. The base-plate A, with its gaging-lips G 0, slot D, binder-slot E,upright post F, and screw G, in combination with the arms M M, binder J,and spring N, as and for the purposes specified.

2. The adjustable inclined arms M M, in their combination with thebase-plate A, upright-post F, regulating-spring N, and binder J, as andfor the purposes specified.

3. The seamless clamping-binder J, or its equivalent, with itsregulating-nut I and separating-block K, in combination with thebaseplate A and inclined arms M M, as and for the purposes specified.

4:. The regulating-spring N, orits equivalent, in combination with theinclined arms M M and binder J, all operating as and for the purposesspecified.

L. T. OONANT.

